Wheat Farmers Group Hopes Government Listens This Time

By Harry Siemens

Gunter Jochum, president of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers, says they aren’t happy with the federal government over what he sees as the government’s, “overly green” sustainability policies. Jochum said the Federal government’s approach, “Make farms less sustainable and further increases food costs for all Canadians.”

In a message to all growers, Jochum said while reviewing his crop rotation, budgets and markets are good reasons for optimism about the upcoming growing season.

“There are many things we can control to make our farms successful, but weather and bad government policy pose challenges,” he said. “The federal government is on a binge with various sustainability initiatives.”

He wrote, “Just before the holidays, we learned there’s a sustainability program in the consultation stage, aimed directly at us called the Sustainable Agriculture Strategy (SAS).”

The federal government states that the “Strategy will serve as a guide to support farmers’ livelihoods while growing a sustainable sector. Identifying goals and a way forward will equip Canada’s agriculture sector to recover quickly from extreme events, thrive in a changing climate, and contribute to world food security while contributing to Canada’s efforts to cut emissions.”

Jochum said the notion that farmers will be at the table talking about sustainability and then civil servants, under the direction of government, will come up with policies to help farmers become more sustainable is ludicrous. According to Jochum, special interest groups at that table have a narrow-minded view of farm sustainability.

“Those groups have the ear of our Ag Minister and direct Ag policy which affects all farmers across Canada,” said Jochum. “There is nothing sustainable about an increase in a carbon tax, removing crop protection products based on label wording rather than science, tariffs on crop inputs that drive up production costs, etc.”

He said these policies make Canadian farms less sustainable and further increase food costs for all Canadians.

“It’s imperative we as a Board have your support to keep lobbying and bringing these issues to the forefront,” he added.

In an interview, Jochum, who farms with his family near St. Francois Xavier, MB, said the green environmental take from the federal government telling farmers to change how they farm is unsettling. He points to one of the sustainable measures that seek to get nitrous oxide emissions from fertilizer under control.

“The Feds suggest reducing nitrogen oxide dioxide by 30 per cent but haven’t given very clear indications of how farmers will do it,” he said.

Farm groups, including the Wheat Growers, have said there are ways farmers can do it because they are already doing it he said.

“The way we farm through minimum tillage, direct seeding, etcetera, yet the government has a hard time recognizing that fact,” said Jochum.

Jochum said it leads their membership to believe that the government ultimately has ulterior motives and wants Canadian farmers to follow the European model of reducing fertilizer use, which of course would not be very sustainable.

“I mean, fertilizer is the number one input on our farms that drives yield and profitability,” he said. “So you take that input away from us or reduce it by 10, 20, 30 per cent, however much, to achieve your emission reduction goals is not sustainable.”

To him, sustainability means farming year after year after year. He took over the farm from his parents and grew it so their daughter could leave a great job four years ago and come home to the farm.

According to Jochum, the federal government, Agricul- ture Canada did not include farmers from the beginning in how to go about the sustainability goal. However, at the end of 2022, the Ag admin put together a group called sustainable agriculture strategy trying to meet every two weeks to talk about sustainability at the farm level.

“It’s not only farm groups, but NGOs and special interest groups involved like Ducks Unlimited and others,” said Jochum. “It leads us to believe the government is not working in good faith here.”

The president of the Wheat Growers hopes even with all the farm groups at the table Federal Agricultural minister Bibeau and the government will listen to farmers’ concerns.